A/N: hey, sorry it took so long for me to update. No inspiration and limited computer time is rough. I'm going to make Namine not as shy now. Well, at least I have something now, so please, sit back and enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: me no own KH…but I can still dream about owning it (goes off into lala land, that's my little daydream place)


Chapter 2

Namine was restless that night. She spent the entire time tossing and turning, thinking about if she did good or not. When she finally fell asleep, she was awakened a few minutes later by the sun's rays hitting her face. 'Well there goes a goodnight's sleep,' she thought. She sighed and sat up in her bed. She looked at her clock to see that it was still a good ways until she had to go to work. She got up, and dressed in a gray cami and a pair of jean shorts. She grabbed a piece of bread and stuck it in her mouth as she slipped on her sandals. She pulled her bike out, and left, not even bothering to get her mail.

She rode down to the beach and to the little island with the crooked tree. Namine parked her bike and sat on the paopu tree. She admired the ocean and the way the sin's rays hit it at a certain angle that made it seem alive and dancing with colors. She wished she had brought her sketch book, but decided to just sit and watch instead of going all the way back to her house and missing it all. She heard a twig snap behind her, and her head whipped over to see who it was. She sighed in relief to see that it was only Riku.

"Hey Riku," she said quietly. He sat down beside her.

"Hey yourself. What are you doing here so early?" Riku asked.

"Just looking at the scenery. You?" Namine replied.

"Just wanted a quiet place to think," he told her.

"Oh. Well, I can go then if you want," she said getting up. Riku grabbed her wrist, careful not to hurt her.

"No, you can stay. I don't mind," he said with a sincere smile. She smiled back at him.

"Thanks," she said. They stared out at the ocean together until the sun had fully risen above the horizon.

"So when do you go to work?" Riku asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Um, around 11:00. That reminds me, what time is it?" Namine asked.

"Almost ten. You still have about an hour 'til your job starts. How about we go somewhere? Together," he suggested.

"Sure," she said. They walked out off the beach, Namine completely forgetting about her bike, and went to the market place.

"Oh! Let's look in there," Namine said excitedly. She ran to a booth and Riku followed her. It went on like that for a while. She would look at things, but never buy it. Riku said he would buy it for her, but she refused to let him. They went to a couple of places Riku wanted to too. Soon it was almost time for Namine to go to work. Riku walked her to her workplace and they said their goodbyes at the front door.

"Looks like someone has a boyfriend! And right after she got here too," a boy said from behind the counter as Namine entered the shop. She fake glared at him, but couldn't hide the blush that rose in her cheeks.

"He's not my boyfriend Fred. He's just a friend. Besides, I just met him a couple days ago," she said.

"Ah yes, but so much can happen in such little time," another boy said.

"Can it, Tory," she said. The said boy held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Snappish much? Oh well, maybe she's PMSing or something," Tory said with a smirk.

"I'll show you PMSing!" Namine yelled, looking like she was about to strangle the boy. Fred stepped between the two.

"Come on guys. We're going to have customers soon, so if you want to fight, do it after your shift. Now go get in your uniform Namine," he commanded. Namine mock saluted.

"Yes sir!" she said, and then marched off to find her hat and apron. Tory snuck up behind Namine as she finished tying on her apron. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Tory! What are you doing?" she gasped.

"Giving you a hug. Just wanted to say I'm sorry if you're mad at me. I know I can be a jerk sometimes," he said. He let her go.

"I'm not mad at you. Well, not really. You can be a jerk, but not always," she told him. "Now come on, we have some orders to fill. I can see some people are heading this way."

He followed her back. And just as she had said, some people walked in. They did their jobs, and got through the lunch rush. Namine had never known so many people wanted ice cream right after lunch.

Her shift ended at 5:30, so she went home and heated herself up some dinner. She got her mail too, and decided to read it as she ate.

"Bill…bill…junk mail…bill…what's this?" she asked as she stopped cycling through the letters. She put down her fork and looked at the address.

"Hm, no return address. And it's to me. I wonder what it is," she said aloud. Namine opened the letter carefully and unfolded the delicate paper inside. Her eyes scanned down the paper, growing wider with more excitement with each word she read.

"Yes!" she shouted when she had finished. The letter was from the agency the talent scout was from, and she won the contest. "Oh I have to tell Kairi!"

She ran to the house next to hers and urgently knocked on the door. She shifted her weight back and forth, waiting for the door to open. To her dismay, it was her friend's mother who opened the door.

"Hello Namine! Are you looking for Kairi?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah, is she here?" Namine asked. Kairi's mother shook her head.

"No. I think she went out to eat with Sora. He's such a good boy," she said.

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway," Namine said, leaving before the woman could go ranting on about Kairi's boyfriend. She went to her garage to get her bike so she could go find Kairi, but she found out that it wasn't there.

"Oh crap! I left it by the paopu tree. What if somebody stole it?" Namine said, running her hands through her dirty blonde hair. She ran to where she and Riku had met earlier that day, dodging people in the market. She stopped just before the small islet and searched for her bike. She sighed in relief that it was still there, but she stopped again when she saw Tory walking up to her. She put on a smile.

"Hey Tory," she said when he got close enough.

"Hey. What're you doing out here?" he asked.

"Um, well…I kina left my bike here before I came to work…heh, and I didn't notice it until now so I came to get it," she said, kicking the sand at her feet, slightly embarrassed. He chuckled a little.

"Wow, so you're the owner of the crummy bike?" he asked. Namine glared at him.

"It isn't crummy. Besides, it's the only mode of transportation I have that's free," she told him. Tory shrugged.

"Well, you shouldn't leave it out for someone to steal then if it's the only transportation you have," he said. Namine gave him a weird look. Why was he being so nice to her today?

"Well, whatever. I'm going to go find Kairi and tell her the good news," Namine said, walking over to her bike.

"Uh…Namine, wait," Tory called out before she got on her bike. He looked down nervously.

"Yeah?" she asked, urging him to continue. He walked up to her, head still down.

"Um…I've been meaning to ask you this for a while," he started slowly. Namine nodded, hoping what he was going to say wasn't something stupid like her shoe was untied, because it wasn't (she's wearing sandals, how can sandals be untied?). "Well, I…um, really like you."

"That's it?" she asked. Something was definitely wrong.

"Well, you know how I piss you off a lot?" he asked. She nodded. "Well…that's because I kinda, sorta…love you. I just did those things to get your attention and to hide my feelings. Namine, would…would you be my girlfriend?"

Needless to say, Namine was shocked. Slowly, her mouth turned into a small smile and a light pink blush rose in her cheeks.

"Uh, sure," she said quietly. So quietly, Tory barely heard it. But when he did he grinned at her and gave her a hug.

"Thanks," he said. He hadn't expected her to say yes. He thought she had liked that other guy that had walked her to work. So after he let go of her, he hugged her again when she told him of the letter from the talent agency about her winning. They planned out a date to celebrate for the next day, which they both had off. Namine told him she needed to go tell Kairi about everything, and they said their goodbyes.

As she was riding through the town, she couldn't help but feel it wasn't right. That she didn't fully return Tory's feelings. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. She was loved by somebody now, and that made her happy. Eventually she found Kairi and Sora in front of Kairi's house. Surprisingly, she found Riku there too. She rode up to them.

"Hey guys!" she shouted to get their attention. She parked her bike as they walked over to her.

"Hey Namine, what's up?" Sora said. His arm was latched around Kairi's waist.

"Guess what?" she said.

"What?" Kairi said.

"No, you have to guess first," Namine said firmly. Riku sighed.

"You won something?" he asked. The blonde smiled widely and nodded her head rapidly.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"Well, it's not just something. Actually it's a really big something," Namine said thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Sora urged.

"Well…I won the singing contest and I got a letter from the talent agency! They want me!" Namine squealed. Kairi broke away from Sora and glomped Namine with a hug, also squealing.

"Oh I'm so happy for you!" she said.

"Kairi….you're choking me," Namine managed to say through Kairi's death grip.

"Oh," Kairi said, letting go of her friend. Namine took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"No problem," she said, smiling at her friend.

"That's awesome Namine!" Sora said, giving her a small hug. Riku patted her shoulder. He wasn't the hugging type.

"Good job," he said. Namine smiled at him. Then she remembered her sonversation with Tory.

"Oh! And there's something else!" she said, jumping up and down.

"What is it? And don't make us guess this time," Kairi said, smiling at her giddy friend.

"I have a boyfriend!" Namine told them. Kairi hugged her again.

"That's awesome. Who is it?" she asked.

"Well, it's the guy I work with. His name's Tory. He just asked me an hour ago and we're going on a date tomorrow! Oh, I'm so excited!" Namine squealed again.

No body noticed, the disappointed look on Riku's face at appeared for a moment. He quickly masked it and put on a smile. After a while, Riku and Sora said they had to go. Kairi's mom came out a few minutes later, calling for Kairi to come in. It was getting pretty late. They said goodbye to each other. Kairi planned to come over the next day before Tory got there and pick out Namine's outfit. Tomorrow would be great.


A/N: so how do you like it? Awesome no? tell me in a review! Oh, and sorry about not updating for a really long time. Will Namine's relationship with Tory bloom? Or will someone else get in the way? Why is Rikuupset that Namine has a boyfriend? You shall see…in the next chapter! Please review!